Oven for heat treatment of shales, schists, sandstones, and the like



July 25, 1939- F. F. R. A. GILLES l2,167,503. OVEN FOR HEATy TREATMENT OFy SHALES, SCHISTS, SANDSTNES. AND THE LIKE Filed Dec- 29, 19 6 2 SheetS-Shet 1 M14/IZ a MMT mw arm @M55 July 25 1939 F. F. R. A. GILLES 2,167,503

OVEN FOR HEAT TREATMENT 0F sHALEs', scHIsTs, sAND'sl'rNEs, AND THE LIKE- 2 shetsesneet 2 Filed pec. 29, 1936 Llll I Patented 25,

Franz Florent Raoul Andr Gilles. Uccle-Brussels, Belgium, assignor to Socit Gnrale de Fours Coke, Systmes Lecocq Socit Anonyme,

Brussels, Belgium, a company 4 December 29, 1936, Serial No. 118,102 In France January 3, 1936 i 3 claims. (cl. aca-zzn Application My invention relates to an oven for aisulling in general solid4 material in small fragments which coagulates relatively -little at high temperatures for the purpose of extracting from it 5 products such as oil, gas and tar which are produced in the course of the distillation.

This oven is designed particularly for the distillation of schists, shales and bituminous' sand'- stones which either do not coagulatel at all or do so only slightly. .l

'Ihe oven making the subject matter of the invention is designed with a view to realising the following conditions which are necessary to obtain the maximum yield of oil 'under the best conditions:

l. The schist or shale must be heated progressively and rapidly to a predetermined temperature which must never be exceeded and which must be able to be regulated with considerable accuracy. This temperature varies, according to the material to be treated, between 450 centigrade and 650 centigrade..

2. To obtain a rapid heating the schist or shale must be heated in a condition in which it is loosely packed and must bev subjected to internal movements.

3. The volatile products given of! which are different at the dierent temperatures reached by the material in the course of its distillation' must be led on as s oonas formed so as to withdraw them fromL the eiiects of prolonged heating.

4. All the volatile products must be mixed and supplemented with superheated steam before be-y ing withdrawn and cooled. 1

5. In the case of certain sulphurous schists or shales it is desirable to collect separately theproducts, such as carbon dioxide and sulphulet-- ted hydrogen which are given oi! at low tempera- '40 tures so as to avoid their coming into contact y with the oil bearing products. The sulphur content of vthesel oils will thus be diminished.

6. It is` important to avoid any entry of air into the distillation chambers in order to avoid oxidising the volatile products.

'1111s oven is designed also with a view to realising a large capacity for productionv per square meter of ground space, tobe easyto operate, economical in upkeep' and to require relatively littleheat.. l

The attached drawings represent 'an embodiment ci the oven.

Fig.'1 is a vertical section through the axis of theoven. i u Hg.2 isaplanviewtakenat the level A-B.

which are disposed ina circular fashion. about a diameter towards the bottom above which is-ll b yelght vertical cast pipes 2 whoseupper openreservoir where it forms a heap which mixes with the volatile products.

PATENT volrglcl-:f

l Fig. '3 is a horizontal sectionvalong the linie. C-D. j

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through one'oi the central tubes of each chamber on an enlarged I The oven possesses for exampleeight vertical distillation chambers I which are identical and vertical axis of symmetry.

These chambers are formed by a column of inl. dlvidual distillation chambers of refractory material provided with large connecting joints.

The inner wall of each individual distillation chamber possesses a portion which increases in.

arranged portion considerably less in height which opens towards the top the walls beinginclinedat an angle of'about 45.

The average'interlor 'diameter of each. indivldual distillation chamber may be for example. 30 centimetres the Aheight being'also 30 centimetres. The height of a column of these indi- Y vldual distillation chambers may be for example about 6 meters.

The eight distillation columns are surmounted ings are xed to a cylindrical reservoir l into which penetrates' a feeding screw .4 which ldelivers the schist or shale into the centre of this overilows 3 into-each of the tubes 2. Eight naps 5 whose inclination can be adjusted enable the feeding oi each pipe iv to be controlled and suppressed as required. v

The schist or shale may be broken up so as to 35' contain lumps for example of irom lA to 40 milllmetres in diameter. 4.

-It may .be desirable to charge the 'oven with a somewhat damped'schist or shaleso as to increase the quantity of superheated steam which 40 The distillation chambers are heated by a plurality of series of eight gas burnersl arranged. symmetrically. The air necessary for the com.` bustion ls taken in by apertures. ofv adjustable crosssectlon giving access to the burners.

The hot gases produced byeach-burner are divided into two currents which circulate successively around every individual chamber of a column. They iinallycirculatearound the tubes U 2 before escaping through two symmetrical apertures 1 into two chimneys. y -'Ihe eight columns of distillationchambers are mounted on a metal plate l pierced by eight eorresponding'holes. Under this plate is nxoda u funnel-shaped hopper i for receiving the waste schist or shale.

` These tubes are pierced by a large number of holes l3\and on the outside are provided with a helical shelf I4.

These tubes have two functions:

(a) 'Ihey permit the material to descend regularly on account of the helical shelf which breaks the arch-like agglomerations of the schist or shale which are continually forming. These arch-like. agglomerations come to lrest upon the interior surfaces of the distillation chambers where these are widening towards the top. Their eect is to prevent the material passing through the chambers from becoming jammed which would cause considerable friction onvthe rotating central tube andwould also have the undesirable eifect of preventing internal movements within the material.

Thanks to the continual formation and breaking down of these arch-like agglomerations important movementsare produced in the mass of the material both in the direction from the periphery of the chambers towards the centre and from the centre towards the periphery which movements facilitate the heating of the material.

. In order to counteract the tendency of the schist or shale to descend more rapidly in the central region than in the peripheral region of the distillation chambers the helical shelf I4 is arranged in such fashion that the rotation of the central tube tends to screw 4down the tube into.l the material. As the tube cannot be driven down through the material the descent of the latter will be retarded in the central regionso that the average velocity with which the schist or shale descends throughthe distillation chambers is approximately the same at the periphery as at the centre.

(b) The tubes also serve for collecting the volatile matter given olf by the schist or shale which penetrates into the tubes through the holes which are provided.

The gas which is given of! at low temperatures such as carbon dioxide and sulphuretted hydrogen on the one hand, and on the other hand the volatile matter given off at higher temperatures may be collected separately.

To this end a piston I5connected to a rod fixed to a covering member closing the upper opening of the central tube separates the two sorts of products; Y

The low temperature gases traverse the tube through the -holes situated above the piston. When they reach the'upper part of the tube they pass o ut through holes provided in this region and pass into' the reservoirs 3 from which they are drawn off by a tube I8.

.The products formed at higher temperatures pass into the tube through the holes situated below the piston and descend through the tube .whose lower opening is associated with the stem portion of a fixed in-take cone I l. They pass out through the tube I8.

The piston 15 maybe displaced in the tube so as to vary the .region of separation of the two products. It is very important to.w ithdraw the volatile products-,in the downward direction, If

these products should rise in the tube, since the temperature of the latter diminishes from bottom to top the volatile material through rising would reach a region of the tube which is at a lower temperature than their temperature of condensation. The vapours would condense there and would trickle down the tube where they would be vaporised again, the cycle being repeated until these volatile products were destroyed.

'Ihe exhausted schist or shale coming into contact with thewater which'forms the hydraulic joint vaporises a considerable quantity.

This vapour becomes' superh'eated in contact with the hot material in the hopper 8. It is taken in through the cones I'I where it mixes with the products of distillation.

All the useful products of the distillation are accordingly mixed in the hot state with superheated steam-a condition necessary for obtaining the maximum yield from oil shalea 'I'he water vapour traversing the exhaust material in thehopper also hasthe eiiect of extracting the last traces of volatile material which the treated shale still contains. 'It will be noted that pistons the pressure may approximate to that of the atmosphere so that there will not be any passage of air across the schist or shale contained in the feeding screw nor across the joints occurring at the place where the central tubes pass out ofthe reservoir 3.

The maximum temperature of the distillation chambers may be regulated with considerable accuracy by adjusting the cocks of the burners and by consulting the indications of the pyrom eters I! whose leads penetrate into the lower portion of the central tubes.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus forthe heat treatment of shales, schists. sandstones and the like for the extraction of volatile products, a hollow vertical distillation column comprising a plurality of superposed distillation chambers, each chamber having a lov 'er portion with a vcross-section gradually increasing towards 4the base and an upper portion of smaller height with a cross-section increasing towards the top ofthe chamber, a rotatable central tube extending vertically through said distillation column, lmeans for rotating said central tube in one direction, projecting elements disposed on vthe outer surface of said rotating tube and spaced from the inner wall of the column, said elements being adapted to re` tard vthe descent of thematerial in the central portion of the column and to prevent arch-like agglomerations of the material from packing upon rotation of said tube, the latter being provided with holes through which the volatile products given ott from the material can be withdrawn.

2. In an apparatus for the heat treatment of shales. schists, sandstones andthe like for the extraction of volatile products a hollow vertical distillation column comprising a plurality Vo1' superposedl distillation chambers, each chamber having a lower portion with a cross section gradually increasing towards the base and an upper 'portion of smaller height with'a cross section increasing towards the top o! the chamber, a rotatable central tube lextending vertically through said distillation column and provided on its outerproducts given onl from the material are withdrawn from said column in a vertical direction.

3. In an apparatus for the heat treatment of shales, schiste, sandstones and the like for the extraction of volatile products, a hollow vertical distillation column comprising a plurality of superposed distillation chambers, each chamber having a lower portion with a cross section gradually increasing towards the base and an upper portion of smaller height with a cross section increasing towards the top of the chamber, a rotatable central tube extending vertically through said distillation column and provided on its outer surface with a helical shelf having its outer edge spaced from the inner wall of the column means for rotating said tube and helical shelf in a direction to retard the descent of the material in' the central portionof4 the column and to prevent arch like agglomerations of the material from packing or jamming, the central tube being pierced with holes through which the volatile products given of! from the material can `be withdrawn from said column in a vertical direction, and a suction pipe communicating with the lower end of said tube.

FRANZ FroaaN'r RAOUL ANDR GILLES. 2 

